Action!
by bloodyblond
Summary: The director really wants to finish this damn movie... Now if only he could get the lead actress to stop making moon eyes at the wrong guy.


**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

_**A/N: This is probably going to come off as someone who has some rather ill feelings towards the Twilight movies. Though I won't deny it - the only real thing I love about them is that they gave me Jasper - this is just supposed to be for fun. **_

_**Although, if it makes you curious why I write stories for a pairing from a movie I don't even like, I'll be straight with you (and this will probably sound weird); I pretty much don't like any of the movies/tv shows/books based on the pairings I ship. And I don't like them BECAUSE of the pairings I ship. Vicious circle, eh?**_

_**Guess that's what happens when you're as into non-canon couples as I am.**_

_**Oh, and just so you know, I do know that it was technically a woman that directed the movie, but meh, creative licensing and all that jazz.**_

* * *

"Cut!"

The director ran a hand through his thinning hair and sighed loudly. "Bella, sweetheart," he begged. "Beth is supposed to be making eyes at Edwin, _not_ Jensen."

"I know," she groaned, leaning back in the hard, plastic chair. "But I don't get it. Why is she going for this guy? He's such a douche."

"Because he's every woman's fantasy man," the director explained patiently.

"And as a woman, you would know this?" the actress shot back sarcastically. "There is no way that stuck up ass is supposed to be _any_ woman's fantasy." She looked pointedly at the actor playing Edwin who was currently using the break to fiddle with his hair in a mirror his miserable looking assistant was holding and grimaced. "No one's standards are that low. Him on the other hand..." She gestured towards Jasper (aka _Jensen_) and shivered delightfully when the blond shot her a heated smirk.

The director sighed and tried a different tactic. "We only have a few more days to shoot in this cafeteria," he said. "The staff here has been accommodating thus far, but we're already behind schedule."

"I realize that," Bella replied guiltily. "And I'm trying to get into character, but it just doesn't make sense." She looked back at Edward and wrinkled her nose. "He's just so..." she trailed off, unable to find a word to describe how very _not_ attracted she was to the actor playing him, but the feeling was there.

Her gaze shifted once again to Jasper and she sighed softly as she watched him lean up against the cafeteria wall, scanning the mingling extras boredly and completely ignoring the actress who was playing the role of his – Bella frowned – _significant other_ as she chattered up at him.

Why couldn't he have gotten the role of Edwin instead?

If she was honest, she felt a little cheated over the whole thing. She had ended up being the last one cast for this movie and with Edward suddenly called out of town the day of her audition; she had ended up reading opposite of Jasper – who had been asked to sub that day.

To make her performance believable, she hadn't been told that he actually wasn't going to be playing opposite her until she'd eventually gotten the part. She had been crushed to learn that the gorgeous guy she had felt an immediate attraction to (and she suspected he to her) had been regulated to a minor part – one that she barely had any scenes with.

She scowled when the director snapped his fingers in front of her face, drawing her attention away from the blond man.

"You're an actress," he reminded her as he lightly massaged his temple. "You're paid to pretend, so... _pretend _he's the best looking man you've ever seen!" he ordered firmly. "Understand?"

She snorted and shot a look at Jasper. _Sorry,_ she thought, _that role is already taken._ Outwardly, she dropped her eyes and nodded sullenly in agreement.

"Good," he said, stalking away to the edge of the cafeteria and nodding slightly at the camera man.

"Action!"

**-oo-**

"Cut!" the director yelled impatiently.

Apparently the actress had not taken his advice to heart the other day, and was still reacting as if Edward was something she'd scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

"Bella, you have to stop grimacing every time Edward's lips get close to yours!"

"I can't help it," the pretty brunette complained, pushing none too gently on the shoulder of the bronzed-haired male that was leaning over her. "What did you do, gargle with garlic flavored Listerine?"

"Hey!" Edward complained sourly, before turning his head away to covertly breathe into the palm of his hand and take a tentative sniff. "She's one to talk," he whined at the director when he deemed his breath was fine. "She was chewing cinnamon gum before the scene; I _hate_ the taste of cinnamon."

"At least I made the effort to make sure my mouth doesn't taste like ass," she snapped.

"At least I don't taste like I sucked off a cinnamon roll," he countered with a sneer.

She smiled vindictively. "Is that really the reason you don't want to kiss me, or are you just afraid to smear your lip-gloss?"

"It's part of my make-up," he argued.

She snickered. "Whatever you say, pretty boy."

"Children!" the director cut in tiredly as the two continued to squabble.

"I can't work like this," Edward huffed, stomping off set, his nose pointed so high in the air that he stumbled over some cables.

"And to think I almost turned down this wonderful job," the director muttered under his breath. "Edward get back here!" he called. He scowled when the actor ignored him and disappeared around the corner. "Was that really necessary?" he asked, turning accusing eyes towards the unapologetic actress leaning casually back on the bed.

"Were you even watching that scene?" she retorted. "Creeper just admitted to watching her when she slept." She shuddered. "What about that screams, 'kiss him now' exactly?"

"I don't remembering you arguing about any of this when you read the script," he pointed out.

"That was before I met the colossal ass!" she spat, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder. "When I thought _someone_ else was going to fill Edwin's part." She glared at him. "You people really dropped the ball on that, by the way."

The director rolled his eyes but was unable to truly dispute her claim. The original director had dropped out at the last minute and he had been hired as a replacement, so he hadn't actually seen the audition. But he _had_ heard about it through the grapevine – apparently it had been pretty intense.

But that was beside the point.

"I had nothing to do with that," he reminded her. "But you need to understand that Jensen is _not_ the lead male in this love story."

"He could be," she replied petulantly.

He threw up his hands. "Fine, whatever. Let's just waste the studios time and money; I'm sure they won't care. Is Jasper on set?" he barked at the nearest production assistant.

The woman gazed warily up at him and nodded. "I think he's in makeup," she replied timidly.

"Well, I want his ass on set, pronto!"

"Um, if he asks why, what should I tell him?"

He glared at her. "That I'm the director and I said so," he snapped.

The woman nodded jerkily and scurried away in the direction of the makeup trailers.

The director plopped heavily into his provided chair. _Can't believe I'm letting a teenage actress call the shots around here, _he fumed silently, vowing to never work with anyone under the age of twenty five again. "There'll be no more complaining after you get this out of your system," he told her, scowling when she tilted her head and smiled at him as if she knew something he didn't.

"Promise," she replied coyly, crossing her finger over her heart. Her gaze shifted to something over his shoulder and her eyes lightened with excitement.

The director turned to watch the blond man approach them, a curious look on his handsome face. Thankfully his makeup was completely in place – including a set of golden contacts – but he clearly hadn't had a chance to go to wardrobe yet as his clothes were more casual than the preppy ones that his character was usually dressed in.

The director eyed Jasper's jeans and t-shirt and decided he couldn't be bothered to get him to change; they had wasted enough time already. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to actually _film_ it.

"You called, chief?" he drawled, shooting a wink at the grinning girl still sitting on the bed.

The director pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know the script, right?" he asked tiredly.

The actor grinned cheekily. "Kinda my job."

The director groaned. _Did I hit the sassy actor's jackpot or what?_ "The whole script?" he clarified, knowing the blond really didn't have that big of a part.

Jasper shrugged and nodded. "Sure." His brow furrowed curiously. "Why?"

"Because apparently I have nothing better to do," the director muttered, picking up his script and indicating the scene they were shooting with a tap of his finger. "Without asking any questions, do you think you can do this scene?"

Jasper eyed the text. "You want me to do _this_ scene?" he repeated. "With her?" he asked, pointing at Bella.

The director was certain Jasper was going to protest and he'd have another headache on his hands, but he was surprised when a slow smile began to stretch across the actor's lips.

"Well, if you insist," he said eagerly, strolling towards the gleeful looking actress.

The director sighed and turned to his crew, quietly explaining what was going to happen. He was confused when a few almost looked excited at the idea and he was pretty sure he saw a woman - the same one who had told him about Bella and Jasper's audition now that he thought about it – nodding in a, '_that makes so much more sense'_ way in the background.

Shaking his head, he settled back in his chair in just enough time to see a smirking Jasper whisper something in Bella's ear. The actress's pale cheeks flushed with color as she smiled shyly up at the blond man. _Can't deny they have chemistry_, he mused to himself as he watched them comfortably interact for a few moments.

"We ready to do this?" he called, breaking the moment.

With twin nods, they indicated their readiness and only half paying attention, the director waved his hand at them, motioning for them to start the scene.

They had his full attention by the time they began leaning into each other. _Wow, _he thought, wide-eyed as the two got a little _too_ involved in the kiss._ This is better. Much better. _He glanced around at his crew, noticing the flushed faces and the uncomfortable squirming.

"Are you sure you don't want me to film this?" his cameraman side-whispered.

"Where's my phone!" he barked, snatching it from his assistant's hand. He didn't even give the woman on the other end of the line time to offer a greeting when she finally answered. "Melanie, I need a re-write done ASAP, we're changing the script. Beth is going to go for Jensen instead."

"Um, what about Amy?" The woman on the other end of the line asked timidly.

"Cut her. And since we're making Jensen the lead, I want to beef up Preston and Caroline's roles while we're at it." He shot a stern glare at the amused look on his assistant's – a young girl in her mid twenties – face when he rattled off two of the characters from Jensen's background. Yes he read the stupid books – but only so he had a better grasp of the story.

"But they're barely –"

"Do you think I care?" he snapped.

"But that's not how the author wrote it," Melanie complained weakly.

He smirked victoriously. "She really should have read the contract. If she had, she would have noticed the fine print. You know, the part that says _creative licensing_." He chuckled.

That's why they always put the money first. With dollar signs dancing in their eyes, people would happily – and usually unknowingly, but that was the entertainment business for you – sign their souls away.

"That's not –"

He cut her off again, waving his hand in the air in a dismissive motion. "Trust me; I'm doing her a favor. Wait until she sees the dailies."

"But the fans..."

"When people see the chemistry between Beth and Jensen, they'll be asking Edison who?"

"Edwin," Melanie corrected.

The director frowned. "Huh, I guess he is a pretty forgettable character. I want the changes done by the end of the week," he told her.

She laughed uneasily. "Wouldn't it be better just to give..." she hesitated briefly. "Jasper, right? Wouldn't it just be easier to give him Edward's role?"

The director frowned down at the script as he read over one of Edwin's lines. "No, Bella was right; Edwin is a creepy little bastard."

"But –"

"No more buts, just get it done." He promptly hung up on her and tossed his phone at his assistant, who scrambled to catch it.

"Alright ladies and gents, we're doing this for real," he announced clapping his hands. "Hey Jasper," he called, getting the attention of the actor that was still – quite happily – being straddled by Bella. "How do you feel about a bigger part?"

* * *

_**A/N2: Out of curiosity, are there any pairings that you like, but don't like the books/movies/tv show that gave them too you?**_


End file.
